PERFECT PEDERSEN: JESSE IS 30!!!

A VERY happy Monday to everyone and a VERY, VERY, VERY Happy Birthday to my husband, the love of my life, my best friend, and my #mancrushmonday, Jesse!!!!! Today is Jesse's 30th Birthday!! I know I mention him here and there throughout the blog so you probably already know how sweet, thoughtful, and hard working he is, but I wanted to share a little bit more about him so that you can truly understand how special he is!

In the summer of 2009, I was looking to play a little volleyball so I went on Craigslist and found a posting about a co-ed volleyball team at the JCC. I emailed the captain and purposely showed up late incase I wasn't good enough to play on the team. Little did I know that I would meet my future husband that night!!! Jesse had joined the team with his best friend Shom, but when I want to embarrass Jesse I'll tell people that we met on Craigslist! I was blessed in more ways than I could have imagined and actually met some of my best friends on that team- Jen, Jen, Louisa, and Shom!!

Jesse and I would talk a little bit here and there during the games; we are both setters so we were talking strategies, but I told him I didn't want to date or let others know we liked one another because it would ruin our team dynamic and we had a championship to win! Slowly but surely, we started texting, talking and hanging out. Still, I didn't realize that this wonderful man was going to be my husband! It wasn't until early December when Jesse asked me to be his girlfriend, by putting two dozen long stem roses in the front seat of my car with a note that said, "will you be my girlfriend?" (I had an Explorer at the time and he knew the keyless entry code!!), that we became official. With such a lovely gesture, I knew I had to say yes. We've never looked back since!

Over the last five years, life with Jesse has been magical. We've seen each other through so many great memories: family and friends' weddings, travels, new jobs, moving in together, our own wedding, graduate school, new companies, and now a baby! The best part is to think of how much we have helped one another grow and how we have influenced one another for the better.

It's hard to think about my favorite quality about Jesse. He is one of the most thoughtful, most loyal, most hard working, and brilliant people I have ever met, not to mention he is incredibly handsome! He never speaks ill of anyone and is always looking for better ways to solve problems, both big and small. He is also one of the most patient, talented, and insightful people I've ever met.

But what are some examples of these qualities, you might ask? On our wedding day, he had each bridesmaid give me a note every half hour as we were getting ready with a special photo of the two of us and a sweet memory from when that photo was taken. When we first started dating he would get up at 5:30am to go to the gym to workout before commuting to the south bay before working at a tech startup for ten hours. I don't think he's gone more than two days in a row without working out. He loves meaningful relationships with friends and would rather have a thoughtful conversation with someone than be in a loud bar drinking heavily. His patience is sometimes UNREAL! Whether he's putting together a complex piece of furniture, dealing with customer service representatives, or sitting through one of my many family events that I drag him to, he never complains, instead he sees everything as a positive experience.

Jesse is one of the most multi-talented people I have ever met. His natural aptitude for problem solving makes him a great engineer, but his creative skills make him an amazing artist and graphic designer (he takes all of the photos of me for the blog and everyone asks if I've hired a professional- I say yes, because his work is top notch!!) He is a talented athlete with an incredible work ethic and trains weekly and plays basketball in two leagues.

People are probably getting sick of how much I am going on and on about him, but I have to because he is so modest. He never wants to be celebrated; he'd rather acknowledge the efforts and success of his teammates around him. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the incredible success he has achieved with Dustin at BuildingConnected. In two fast years, they've followed their dreams to launch an incredible company with the most incredible team, great product, and road map to make a huge difference in the construction industry.

Our baby girl will be a Gemini, which is the sign known for having two sides to their personality. I can't help but think that she will be half Jesse and half me! I am hoping she gets all of his wonderful qualities!! I cannot wait to see Jesse be a great labor coach and amazing father in just a few short weeks!